Air and waterproof joint for silo staves and the like



June 9, 1936. T. A. ROWE 2,043,519

AIR AND WATERPROOF JOINT FOR SILO STAVES AND THE LIKE Filed NOV. 14, 1953 Izz /z.

gays.

Thomas [1. Howe,

Patented June 9, 1936 u UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR AND WATERPROOF JOINT FOR SILO STAVES AND THE LIKE Thomas A. Rowe, Le Roy, N. Y.

Application November 14, 1933, Serial No. 698,011

1 Claim. (01. 20-14) The invention relates to a water and air proof details of construction, within the scope of the joint for the staves of silos and similar strucclaim, may be resorted to without departing from tures. the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of The object of the present invention is to prothe invention.

5 vide for the staves of silos and similar structures In the drawing: 5

a simple, practical and efficient water-proof and Figure 1 is a perspective view of a silo proairproof joint of strong, durable and comparavided with air and water proof stave joints contively inexpensive construction, adapted to exstructed in accordance with this invention.

clude from the joint air and moisture both from Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail vertical sectional the inside of a silo or similar structure and also view on the line 22 of Fig. 1. 10 from the exterior of the same, whereby decaying, Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail perspective view of rotting and other detertioration of the lumber the adjacent ends of the upper and lower secat the joints of the staves resulting from exposure tions of a stave provided with the improved water to air and moisture and the drying of the staves and air tight joint of the present invention.

by the sun are effectually prevented. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one of 1 A further object of the invention is to provide the stave joint splines. a joint of this character which will obviate the In the accompanying drawing in which is illusnecessity of milling or machining lumber in any trated the preferred embodiment of the inven special way whatsoever, and which, should the tion, I designates the silo having a body portion ZO IBIIdS of the staves not be even or square, provide composed of upper and lower stave sections 2 go a structure which will more than cover the open and 3 connected by the air and water proof joint space between the adjacent ends of the staves of the present invention to form a full length and at the same time add strength to the weakest stave the entire height of the body portion of the place of the staves. silo.

It is also an object of the invention to provide As illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing the ad- 25 a stave joint which will permit the convenience jacent staves have their joints staggered and of handling shorter lengths of staves and yet while the upper joints of the silo are arranged afford the advantage of a one-piece stave the in the same horizontal plane and the lower joints full length of the desired height of a silo. are also arranged in the same horizontal plane,

Another object of the invention is to provide it will be understood that the joints which are 30 a stave joint adapted without affecting the airstaggered may occur at various points between tight and water-tight character of the joint to the top and bottom of the silo. yield to and permit the contraction and expan- Each joint comprises in its construction one sion which takes place due to freezing, absorption or two joining splines 4 stamped or otherwise of moisture and drying out of the staves when formed of galvanized iron, zinc, copper, roofing 35 the silo is empty. paper or any other suitable material, and com- Another object of the invention is to provide posed of upper and lower plate members 5 and a stave joint which will when desired, permit 6 and an approximately horizontal folded conand retain the use of a sealing material such as necting member 1 interposed between the lower roofing cement, asphaltum or tar, to protect the end 8 of the upper stave section 2 and the upper 40 ends of the stave. end 9 of the lower stave section 3, there being Another object of the invention is to provide an intervening space It] between the lower end a stave joint which will obviate the necessity of of the upper stave section 2 and the upper end employing skilled labor in the construction of a of the lower stave section 3 adapted to receive silo and the sawing machine involved in and the sealing material, such as roofing cement, tar, wasting of material resulting from special joints asphaltum cement or any other suitable matedependent upon the accuracy of the feeding or rial when it is desired to apply the same to the sawing to render it efiicient and practical. joined ends of the stave sections for protecting With these and other objects in View the inthe staves at the joints. Such material may be vention consists in the construction and novel dispensed with as the joint splines provide a 50 combination and arrangement of parts hereinjoint which is both water-tight and air-tight and after fully described, illustrated in the accomwhen applied to the ends of the stave sections panying drawing and pointed out in the claim 2 and 3 at both faces of the staves, as illushereto appended, it being understood that varitrated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing, air and ous changes in the form, proportion and minor moisture will be excluded from the joint both 55 from the interior of the silo and from the exterior of the same. The plate members and 6 fit flat against the contiguous faces of the stave sections 2 and 3 and are secured to the same by suitable fastening devices II.

The adjacent ends of the staves fit in angles formed by the plate members 5 and 6 and the folded connecting member 1 which is resilient and adapted to yield to the contraction and. expansion of the staves at the joint resulting from freezing, absorption of moisture and the drying out of the staves. The folded connecting mem.-- ber I is approximately V-shaped and is composed of slightly converging sides and a curved connecting bend l 2 which is adapted to permit relative movement between the sides without liability of the joining spline breaking at the bend l2." The staves are composed of the .usual tongue and,

groove lumber employed in structures of. this character and in erecting a silo or similar structure: itis not necessary to employ skilled laborv orzto square the ends of the lumber as the joining. spline is ample to cover anyspace which may occur by reason of such irregular ends. Also by' enabling material of this character to be employed there isno waste of material incident to squaring or otherwise preparing the ends of the stave sections for special joints and the full lengthstave of the complete height of the body portion of the silo may be formed by the stave sectionsand the joint spline. The staves may be joined=together on the ground before being assembled'in a silo, .water tank or the like or the joints may be made while the silo is being constructed. The joint spline increases the strength of the staves at the weakest place, namely, the joint'betwen the stave sections and permits expansion and contraction without affecting the water and air-tight character of the joints.

Ifdesired, a single joint spline may be employed at each joint and when a single joint opposing relation, each member consisting of 10 upper and lower flat, vertically aligned and. iiangeless plate members secured in uniform contact with the flat side faces of the upper and lower stave sections to prevent the passage of water-or moisture between the staves and the plate members; and a resilient folded connecting member composed of straight fiat upper and lower portionsformed integral with one another and with the upper and lower plate members and converging sharply toward one another, the said resilient folded i-connectingportions of the two opposed joint: covering members extending b'e=- tween the spaced ends of the upper and lower stave sections, opposing spaced-apart relation to.1close :opposite sides of the space betweenth'estavesand adapt said space to the reception of a joint sealing'material,and each of said resilient connecting members having a narrow integral curved and resilientconnecting portion adapted to permit the upperand-lower portions of themember to be compressed and to assume differ entaanglescorresponding with variations in the; space between the stave ends, whereby'a closed water and air-tight joint is thus completed for" fully protecting-the spaced-apart stave ends from the destructive influence of air and moisture at both theinner and outer sides of the structure and a complete closure is effected to permanently maintain jointsealing material in the said space between the stave ends.

THOMAS A. ROWE. 

